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Thursday, February 4, 2016

Old Farms

One of the interesting features of Kimberley Forest is the evidence you come across that this land was once partly farmed. Though the steep forested slope in the middle was never cleared, both above and below this were several farms, or at least farm fields.

The most common evidence are short straight rows of large old Sugar Maple trees.

These trees, in at least 3 different spots I've seen, are in such straight lines that they either came up in fencerows, or were planted.

If I were hunting for old homesteads, near these lines of big old trees is where I'd look first.

There's one old set of farm buildings left, though they were sold off as a private residence. There's the old ruined barn foundation, a jumble of barn boards, and the old silo. The intact barn behind it is across the road. The house is just out of sight on the right.

More common are old bits of cedar rail fencing, some in quite good shape, and some fallen down.

It's certainly been a very long time since any cattle grazed in here! That's Wodehouse Creek running through the upper part of the property.

This fence, in a completely forested area, looks even older to me. It's a genuine old 'snake' rail fence, built without fence posts.

And there's one old farm lane bounded by lines of trees, though it runs down to a farmhouse that is off the property.

There's also an unused sideroad, though it's one place ATVs access the property.

The fact that this property was expropriated 4-5 decades ago for a public use, and has never been put to that use, does leave some understandable resentment in the local community. As we try to improve the management and care of this public land, we hope to also honour the memory of the original families who farmed here.

Again tonight my computer worked fine all day, but got tired by evening, and decided it could not connect to the internet. Thank goodness for my laptop! Our unreasonably mild temperatures have gone below freezing again, which is a big improvement, but there's very little snow in the forecast, which means no skiing or snowshoeing for now. Not a very nice winter at all!

Since it's Thursday, and I have several appropriate pictures, I guess I'll link to

Lovely photos . Sounds like your PC may be giving up the ghost if you were able to use your lap top on the same service provider or it was all just a fluke lol !. Thanks for sharing , have a good day !

Interesting --when I sit and think about the families who used to farm there... I'm sure there is resentment--as there is in our country when lands become part of the Govt/States... BUT--seeing your line of trees/old fences made me think about times when we are out hiking in the mountains and come upon old homesteads/property like that. One time we even found an old cemetery WAY back in the mountains... Lots of history.

I wonder what the area looked like 100 years ago, I guess I often think that around here. I was stressed the other day, I cannot remember what a neighbors barn looked like...it must be in my memory someplace but I can not recall it:(

Hello

This blog started out to document the seasons and the landscape of the Beaver Valley here in one of the most scenic spots in southern Ontario. Since then we've moved to Meaford, in the next valley over, on the Bighead River. Since retiring here we've started travelling more, having more and more adventures. So now the blog will document some of those adventures too and be a combination of local interest and travel adventures.
I have become more and more interested in photography, while pursuing my other love of writing. My blog lets me put them together and keep exploring a little bit every day - hope you enjoy my observations!

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